Time will say nothing but I told you so,
Time only knows the price we have to pay;
If I could tell you I would let you know.
If we should weep when clowns put on their show,
If we should stumble when musicians play,
Time will say nohting but I told you so.
There are no fortunes to be told, although,
Because I love you more than I can say,
If I could tell you I would let you know.
The winds must come rom somwhere when they blow,
There must be reasons why the leaves decay;
Time will say nothing but I told you so.
Perhaps the roses really want to stay
The vision seriously intends to stay;
If I could tell you I would let you know.
Suppose the lions all get up and go.
And all the brooks and soldiers run away;
Will Time say nothing but I told you so?
If I could tell you I would let you know.
- W.H.Auden
Love this poem – love Auden too – my personal favourite being The One More Loving:
Looking up at the stars, I know quite well
That, for all they care, I can go to hell,
But on earth indifference is the least
We have to dread from man or beast.
How should we like it were stars to burn
With a passion for us we could not return?
If equal affection cannot be,
Let the more loving one be me.
Admirer as I think I am
Of stars that do not give a damn,
I cannot, now I see them, say
I missed one terribly all day.
Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time
I love this one – couldn’t, though, remember what it was called to put it up here. Thank you
xxx